Is there anything wrong with Arsenal fielding a team with no Englishmen?

Nobody cares other than those who want to get a cheap dig in at Arsenal.

As far as i am concerned, there are plenty of other ways to get cheap digs in at Arsenal without resorting to "they didnt field any english players".

Really Alan? mabye you should come and live in the 21st century with the rest of us, its so much more interesting than the dark ages you seem to spending so much time in recently.
 
One thing that needs to be understood in these kind of debates is that a few years ago, the goalposts were moved.

A rule was put in place whereby it because 'illegal' for a club to signup young english players who live more than 90mins(?) by road from the ground. This means that for example it would not be possible for Arsenal to signup the 'next Wayne Rooney' if he happened to come from, say, Devon or Yorkshire. Then consider the fact that there are many, many clubs in the Greater London area all competiting to sign up young players. Some players might not fancy being 12th choice at Arsenal, they might rather join West Ham, or Charlton, or whoever in the hope of getting more opportunities.

So, with Arsenal being banned from recruiting a lot of English players due to travelling-time laws, they are forced to look overseas where there are no such limitations. The fact is, if we are forced to look to Spain or France for players of suitable quality, the chances are they won't be of English nationality.

If we put the whole Arsenal thing aside for a moment, we can see that this ruling is bad for the English game. In theory, it was supposed to stop the 'poaching' of top young talent at an early age, such as David Beckham who lived more than 90mins from Old Trafford. In reality, however, all it does is limit the opportunities of our young players. Imagine you are the best thing since sliced bread, a exciting young prospect who happens to live way down in the depths of Cornwall. What's the best club you can sign for? Torquay? Maybe one of the Bristol clubs? There's certainly no Premiership outfits within 90mins.

People like Gordon Taylor should keep his mouth shut, he's just making himself look stupid when he says Arsenal's victory over Madrid would mean more if we were playing Campbell and Cole - they were injured for both legs, you muppet!
 
daz said:
I think David Bentley's recent performances have shown that it was perhaps a mistake to let him go.
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You could say that, however equally you could suggest that his contract would have expired before he was able to challenge for a first team place. Remember that he wasn't even in the top10 forwards/wingers at Arsenal - so selling him raised a few pennies and also saved money on wages.
 
Arsenal are an interesting contrast to their North London rivals, who had a record equalling 5 players on the pitch in England's recent friendly. But judging by Wenger's record, you can't really argue with his signing strategy.
 
It is a little sad really, but it's the mentality of foreign managers.

Wenger signs a lot of French players.
Benitez signs a lot of Spaniards.
Mourinho signed a lot of Portuguese (and a lot of other players too)
Houllier signed a lot of French players.
 
HangTime said:
People like Gordon Taylor should keep his mouth shut, he's just making himself look stupid when he says Arsenal's victory over Madrid would mean more if we were playing Campbell and Cole - they were injured for both legs, you muppet!
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Had a chuckle when I read that, I don't think I've ever heard Gordon Taylor say ANYTHING that makes sense...
 
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